With this year’s study of somatic therapy, I’ve realized I’ve been using the word “soma” in 2 different ways.
Looking it up online, one finds a wild diversity of definitions for soma: the physical body, the entire body except microorganisms, the body of the brain neuron, and the badly misunderstood Vedic translation that sees soma as a hallucinogenic beverage made from an unknown plant or mushroom. That last one got lost in translation. The ancient cognitions were not drug trips. Symbolic actions were used to represent inner experience.
Here, I use the term in 2 affiliated ways:
1) Soma as a subtle substance that the body refines, also called amrita. This soma helps refine perception and increase the support of nature. Early on, it’s triggered by transcending. That’s the proper Vedic meaning.
2) Soma as referring to the body. But more specifically, to the etheric* or subtle physical body. This is where impressions are laid into the physical. Habituated physical learning, such as walking, forms some of that. But when the impressions are because of unresolved experiences, they’re triggering and can affect the emotions and lead to physical issues.
Essentially, soma 1 is a refined substance that moves through the soma 2 of the body. Impressions (samskaras) in the bodily soma can interfere with the flow of the substance.
Many people have learned to cope with unresolved experiences by suppressing them, then withdrawing from that part of ourselves. The physical body becomes an uncomfortable place to be, so we withdraw. We live more in their head, the mind, and take the body for granted.
However, given proper resources, we can heal those unresolved experiences and move back into the body. What was once uncomfortable becomes a joy to inhabit. We feel solid and grounded, too.
Davidya
*etheric is a term that’s a little misleading, coming to us via Theosophy. Etheric refers to the subtle physical, which interfaces with the energy/emotional body. Yet ether refers to the space element, which is prominent on the much deeper causal level.